New Girl
by TheOfficerandGentleman
Summary: A storm is coming. /AU, HopeXLight/
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. All rights go to Square Enix_

_Author's Note= I don't like adding author's note at beginning of the story but since this is an AU (Alternate Universe) I changed something. Hope and Lightning are both 14 in this. Hope you enjoy (See what I did there? XD)_

* * *

Much like every other school it was difficult fitting in. Palampolum High was no exception for Hope Estheim. It's not that he searches for problems, these problems find him. Thrown in a locker, duck taped to a toilet seat, locked in a janitor's closet, stepped on and insulted. Hope went through all of it on a weekly basis.

What can he possibly do to stop this? Go talk to his parents? He'd be lucky to even see them these days. They are both scientist in pursuit of a cure for a cursed L'Cie. They wanted to turn a cursed stone back into a human being again. It honestly felt like they were more married to their job than each other and their stupid project is their child. It made him feel neglected. A cloud was hanging over him.

How Hope felt would fit the current weather condition here at Palampolum. Thick grey clouds hovering above the heavens, small droplets of rain fell down, followed by another. Before you knew it the wave of rain would hit everything in its path relentlessly. The wind was howling and strong enough to bend even the most strongest of tree's.

A storm was coming. A big one.

Hope and Fang looked outside at what mother nature caused in its wake. Having been born and raised in Gran Pulse, Oerba Yun Fang was not use to this kind of weather. Truth be told, she was kind of scared. She just hoped that the rest of the class won't pick up the concern on her face. Fang shrugged it off the best she can.

''Summer rain, right?'' a smile formed on her lips as she looked at Hope. ''You can never predict it."

Hope stood there, leaning on the windowsill. He kept focusing on every rain drop hitting the glass with brute force.

'_Poor kid'_ Fang thought. She felt sorry for him. He would always walk in class with a look that he is carrying the entire world on his shoulders. She tried contacting his parents but it's either meeting or business trip of some sort with them. Do they even care? You'd think this will affect his grades. Yet he still does the best in the class, if not, the entire school.

That does not stop Fang from worrying about his emotional well-being.

''Hope." She spoke. "If something or someone is bothering.."

"It's nothing" Hope quickly interjected with a smile, a forced smile. "It's just something I have to deal with on my own."

'_Sure as hell doesn't sound like nothing'_ Fang was not going to force him to talk then.

Hope continued, ''But thank you Fang."

Fang smiled. Hope knew that she would fight teeth and nails for him. She treated him not just like a part of the class but like a family. This was exactly why she was Hope's favourite teacher.

''Well then" She brought her hands together, " toasty or soggy, we are not going to let weather get into the way of education. Is that right class?''

This made the entire glass groan.

''Back to your seat Mr Estheim'' she whispered to him.

The Arts and Crafts class was not like any dull white rooms. It was painted with warm colours and filled with many decorations. The student's paintings were framed and hanged on the wall as was the macaroni necklaces. The other smaller things stood on a rack near the doorway, so that anyone who enters can take a look at it

As Fang told the class about their next crafting project, Hope's attention went back to the window. The wind now was growing even stronger; it pushed the glass with full force back. It looks like it actually wanted to crack because of the pressure. The grey clouds were even darker now.

Lightning striked.

The entire school's power went off, leaving everyone in the pitch black darkness.

"Keep calm everyone! The generator will soon kick in!" Fang assured them.

The door opened slowly. As if it happened on its own, making a dreadful creaking sound. A shadowy figure stood at the doorway like the angel of death.

"Oh goodness. All this cruddy commotion made me forget.'' Fang stood up and made her way to the shadow entity, carefully, not to trip over something in the process.

''Welcome to Palampolum High, sweetheart. Sorry about the lights.''

She led the silhouette figure to the front of the class. Just on cue the lights went back on, revealing the new student to the entire class. Hope's jaw dropped.

Let's just say if you never believed in a goddess then now would be a perfect time to start.

She was the definition of beauty. Her blue eyes can be used to drown in. She wore a brown turtle neck jersey and khaki pants. The new girl also had some pretty cool military boots. What really stood out was her..pink hair.

_Pink hair?_ It was only a matter of seconds before the entire class started gossiping. A lot of them were commenting about her hair.

"Uh-hum." Fang cleared her throat. Her demeanour changed, going from a loving caring teacher to a living nightmare. The people called it "The Look". No words were needed. Everyone knew that it was best if they keep quiet. As quiet as mice.

''What is your name, darl?'' Fang asked. The new girl handed her the registration paper. When Fang read it, she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Lightning Farron?"

She nodded.

'_Not much of a talker aren't cha? I got a place for a sheila like you.'_

''Well Lightning why don't you take a seat next to Hope?'' She pointed to the staring platinum haired Hope, whose cheeks happened to have a red tint.

"He needs a friend right now." She whispered it to Lightning that only she can hear that. Fang winked at Hope as the new girl made her way to his table. Hope knew Fang's little plan.

She did this before. Fang knew that he was lonely and had no friends at all, so she put someone next to him. Not that it helped. The people around that person will poison them and convince them that Hope Estheim is the world's biggest loser.

The moment she sat down next to him, he felt even more nervous. His face started getting even redder; his palms were getting wet to the point that he had to remove his gloves. The scarf was also irritating him, making his neck feel itchy.

The class went on as usual. Some were discussing what they were going to do with the art project while others talked about non-related stuff. Lightning received a list of all the items she needed. Hope's attention was somewhere else and it was not with the work.

* * *

_Author's Note= Thank you for reading. There is always more room for improvement! Tell me what you thought of it. Good? Bad? Meh? Thanks to those who supported Lightning In A Bottle. 334 visitors! Thanks to those who are reading this as well. Out of the bottom of my heart, thanks to each and every one of you._

_Second update coming soon!_

_All my love,_

_The Officer and Gentleman_


	2. Chapter 2

Today was Tuesday. Which happened to be cheeseburgers and chips at the cafeteria. It's an all-time favourite at Palampolum High. Well worth the 26 gil. Some people would even go for seconds.

Hope's History teacher, Sazh let the class out earlier because of a ''very important meeting'' in the teacher's lounge. In truth, the man knew how crazy the queues can get, so he did this not to wait. Sadly, the other teachers played the same card as well. When Sazh arrived to cafeteria, his smile turned to a frown when he saw long queue.

''Aw, man'' said Sazh, disappointingly. The baby chocobo popped out of the afro and he too had frowned when he saw the almost full cafeteria.

''Kweh.'' the chocobo said, sadly.

Hope was next to walk in. The smell of the patty's filled the entire cafeteria. It drew everyone in like a magnet. It seemed like an eternity for them but in reality it was only 5 minutes before they finally got served. They all went to their respective groups talking about the latest news which happened to be centred on the new girl.

Hope knew that feeling. It made him angry. Just because someone is different doesn't mean that they have the right to judge them. We as humans have our share of flaws. Hope's happened to be how short he is.

He grabbed his lunch tray and made his to the table, averting the judging eyes in the process. A table far in the corner was non-vacant because Hope sat there. No one wanted to even touch it with a ten foot poll because apparently the person who sat there had a disease of some sorts. Another lie spread by _him._

Hope sat down and wasted no time eating. This was perhaps the closest he will ever get to home cooking again. The last time he remembered something his mom made was on his 9th birthday. That's about it. He lived on terrible TV dinners most of the time.

Hope took a look at the window. It was still raining cats and dogs. From the looks of it, it actually looked even worse now. The grey clouds were turning red. He was born here and never saw something like this before.

Lightning striked. Everyone were on their feet. At least this time the power did not go out.

The new girl made her entrance. She was hard to miss. There was no doubt that Hope's attention was solely on her. Everything else was irrelevant. As she stood in the queue, Hope focused on every detail; her pink glistening lips, her pearl white teeth, her smooth skin and his favourite was the pink hair.

"Take a picture Lamestheim. It'll last longer'' A little delinquent had to yell out.

The kid was praised with high fives in the group. His mission was accomplished and he even felt a little self-esteem boost. This did not stop Hope. Others would argue that he did not even hear that. Hope was still looking at the goddess from far away.

Maybe not so far away now because she was heading this way!

For Hope, It actually felt like the entire earth stood still as she made her way to his table. By now all the eyes in the cafeteria were on Lightning as they await her next action. The new girl stood by the table with her lunch tray.

"Is this seat taken?"

He sat there with a disbelieved look plastered on his face. She wanted to sit here. It's not because Lightning was forced to. There were a lot of other tables available. She chose to be here. You could have cut the tension with a knife. The entire school looking at them did not help to ease his anxiety one bit. The new girl waited for an answer but when no response came.

''I'll take that as a no then."

She sat down across him and took a bite of the burger. If you thought that the scandal mongering was bad before, now it's even worse, spreading like a wildfire. Not that it bothered them.

What Hope noticed was that student even went out of their way to welcome her here. They were too busy gossiping about her. Although, Hope was extremely introverted and shy, he did not want to come off as rude or as snobby as the rest of these kids. He finally mustered up the courage.

"Welcome to Palampolum.''

She nodded as response. The two ate in solitude. Could it be that he finally made a friend? It was highly unlikely but who knows? So far she did not belittle him or push him around. Not to mention that she sat at his table. There is something about her that tells him that she's different .Call it a strange but an aura she gave around her. Did he also mention that she is drop dead gorgeous?

No doubt that she was in a league of her own.

Hope would take a few quick glances at Lightning as she took a bite of the cheese burger. This did not go unnoticed. When their eyes met, Hope would immediately look away, slightly embarrassed.

''Hope right?'' the new girl asked.

He did not even hear her talk. Hope was too busy getting lost in her eyes.

She finished the meal and said, "Back at Arts and Craft, the teacher called you Hope. That's your name right?''

'_What are waiting for? Say something' _

''Yes, it's Hope. Ho-Hope Estheim.'' He mentally slapped himself for stuttering. There goes his first impression, down the drain.

Lightning did not mind though. She could actually relate to him because of that. Those fears he has were with her when she assigned to Guardian Corps Military School. Circumstances changed her. But that's a story for another day.

* * *

"Did he even hear us?" The delinquent asked the leader at the round table. The leader was huge for his age. The only thing bigger was his ego which was the size of Cocoon. Long oily black hair, two front golden teeth, strange L'Cie mark on his chest was concealed with the tank top he wore. His sharp nails dug in the wooden table when he saw the duo at the table.

His eyes went to Hope, who happened to be a victim of his bullying. Hope smiled. To see him happy sickened Waru to a massive degree.

"Oh, he did." The gaze Waru gave him was that of a thousand flaming arrows.  
"The little bug eye think he's better than us, just cause he has a friend now.''

His friend inspected her, "Hm. boss….she's pretty hot."

"Yeah" Waru ate the chips with his mouth open. Clearly no one ever taught him some dining etiquette. "For a freak"

"Leave him…for now." He kept calm. The last thing he wanted to do was to give him away.

"On second thought." He stood up. A snap of his finger and they stood up as well. Waru was the puppeteer and they were his puppets.

''Let's go say hello to Hope and his new friend… hehehe.''

* * *

_Author's Note= May I ask a question-more of an advice though. I'm 76 hours into Final Fantasy XIII. I completed the story, got 5 star ratings for almost all the stone mission (still need to do the last few of the Titan trails) I also have my party members health points up to 10 000. Then how does an Adamantoise still kick my ass? Seriously. It's driving me nuts! Any advice on how I can approach this and defeat an Adamantoise?_

_I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading. Special thanks Deiru Tamashi, Guest, BicolourRaptor, Electronic –Star, dragonknightwalk__, __KiraMinami24 and__Hector for the reviews :3_

_Third chapter coming soon!_

_All my love,_

_The Officer and Gentleman._


	3. Chapter 3

Off course, the guy can do whatever he wants to. Whatever he does do, Waru gets away with it. A slap on the wrist is perhaps the worst that he could be charged with. The guy's father is stinking rich and owned half the shares of the city which explains a lot. Throw money the principal's way and he'll look the other way.

Now he can basically go through extreme measures and have their admiration and fear. For someone his age, he was obsessed and driven by those. It's was his pillar made of slaves. Speaking of slaves, he even categorised them. Hope Estheim was way down on that list. He was lower than dirt to Waru. Now that he forgot that and made a friend and ended happily all of a sudden…

'_Time to put him in his place.'_

Waru walked to the table with the group following close behind him. He was the shepherd and they were sheep. Little did Waru know that he was actually leading everyone to a slaughterhouse.

* * *

''Why did you leave?"

Lightning told Hope about her hometown, Bodum. The place was known for its fantastic fireworks and beaches. Hope sighed. Just once he wished that he could be there. His mom, Nora promised him once though but a promise with her…

Lightning dipped the chips in the ketchup, trying to think of a way to explain this.

'_Where to begin.' _ She thought. Serah turned into a L'Cie along with her doofus fiancé. They almost escaped but they were caught and now they were transported here in Palampolum to be experimented on like some guinea pigs. Now she is here on a rescue mission and took the name Lightning to hide her real identity.

Yeah. It was for the best no tell that to him.

''An opportunity came and I took that's it."

"You know my mom and dad.. they promised me that they'll take me there but business always got in the way. I really want to see the fireworks.''

Call Lightning jaded but, "It's not that great anyways. It is loud, annoying, disruptive and a waste of gil. My sister drags me there every year. It's nothing special.''

"Oh." Hope said, quite disappointed with the reception. It looked marvellous on the pictures.

''You have a sister?" He asked. Hope actually pegged her as an only child.

Lightning was about to snap at him for asking that. Blue eyes met Hazel's. Nothing except a lot of staring happened. Feeling like this never came over the pink haired teenager before. It felt alien and made her hesitate. He must have her under his spell. Yeah, that's it. Hope must have an Aegisol bracelet attached. She never should have trusted him.

The rain stopped. Slowly, the clouds separated from one another, giving the sun the spotlight. The rays went through the window, shining Hope's platinum hair. His eyes were sparking, making her cheeks red and her legs feel like Jell-O.

Hope turned pale when he looked over Lightning's shoulder. He was on his way here with his lapdogs behind him. Only one thing happened when Waru is here, complete chaos.

''Lightning." He warned her. But it was too late. They were here, surrounding the table in a circle. It was their trademark. All attention was on Hope though not the new girl. The row of delinquents separated in the centre of the line, allowing the leader to be seen.

Found him. Not that it was difficult finding him. Waru stuck out like a sore thumb. He was almost the size of a behemoth and twice as ugly. She just had to keep her cover if Lightning ever wanted to see Serah again.

Waru strolled, hands in his pocket, whistling a happy tune. How can be so non-chalant about this?

He sighed and said, ''Hope, you disappoint me.''

It felt like Hope was on the brink of an anxiety attack. He could not say anything. Waru sat next to him, not keeping his eyes of Hope. "Why did you not introduce the new fish to us."

Waru looked at Lightning , "Sorry miss I just need to deal with the stray away first.''

Hope wanted nothing to do with this. He stood up. " I don't wan'-"

Waru grabbed him by his collar.

"Sit down and shut up, Lamestheim." He patted Hope's cheek.

This boiled Lightning's blood. Her fist ached to slam in his face. Yet she couldn't.

''Let him go!"

The entire school was shocked by the outburst. Even Waru's lackeys were suprised. No one ever ever stood up to him not even the grown-ups. All sat and stared in anticipation on what might happen next. The atmosphere in the cafeteria was tens .Waru chuckled and dropped Hope. He and his friends went to Lightning. Like a pack of ravenous wolves surrounding their pray.

"What is your name fish?"

"Lightning."

"No, what is your _**real **_name fish?" He was getting too close to her. All of them were a bit too close. She could smell the many different types of tear and vomit inducing colognes and deodorants they used.

''I already told you."

.

.

.

Waru smiled, "Welcome to Palampolum then Lightning.''

He snapped his finger and away he went with his band of merry men, back to their table. That was what everyone thought. He stopped and smiled. He was a sick sadist. Waru turned back and made his way to the new girl. He was not finished. This was about sending a message.

''And Lightning.'' He grabbed Lightning by her arm, his filthy nails digging through her skin.

That was the last straw.

'_THWACK!'_

Waru's face met Lightning's steel lunch tray. It vibrated on impact and left a huge bulge on the tray with his facial detail imprinted on it. He fell on his back, next to him on the floor was his golden tooth. What most shocking about this was the fact that it was not Lightning that did it.

It was Hope.

Hope stood there with Lightning's lunch tray in his hands. He too was flabbergasted by his action. It happened on impulse. His emotion got the best of him. Seeing, _him _touching Lightning, It's like he finally snapped after all the abuse.

The friends charged at Hope as retaliation. They all stopped dead in their track when they saw that Lightning had Waru in an arm lock.

"One more move …" Lightning told them. She pressed her knee against his back, adding pressure to the lock. Waru yelled in pain. "…and you'll sign your friend's cast in the foreseeable future.''

They nodded and took a few steps back away from Hope. This was the first time that everyone saw the Waru screaming in pain, sobbing and vulnerable. Those who suffer most under him took great pleasure in the sight. Especially Hope.

''Don't ever touch me again. Same goes for Hope. If you as think about us, the consequences will be severe. Do you understand?"

He nodded but that was not enough for her. She wanted hear him say it. Lightning tightened the arm lock to the point if she did more than his arm will actually break. She repeated louder, ''Do you understand!?"

"ARRGHH! YES!"

Lightning kicked Waru too his friends. They all caught him just as he was about to fall down again. She was not done yet. Lightning Farron wanted to add insult to injury. She walked up to him so that to look him in the eyes. The left eye was already purple and swollen shut because of Hope.

''You don't own this place. You have no right to treat people like this. Just because your bastard of a father has a lot of money does not give you a higher authority or respect. Heck, the two of you deserve the farthest thing from respect. Your father earned that from the blood and sweat from other people. Then what did he do? Send them to Gran Pulse.

Her knuckles tightend. She was even closer to him now.

"Tell you what. You can hit someone who can't defend themselves so easily but what if they can? Why don't you give me your best shot."

Waru pushed the group who held him away. He raised his fist but no hit came.

She scoffed and smiled. "Not only are a bully but you are a coward. Like father like son. Pathetic.''

Lightning turned around and made her way back to the table. Waru tried to take this as an advantage to hit her on the back of the head. A dirty unfair shot but she told him to hit her.

Lightning reflexed were too fast. She grabbed his fist and went back to the arm lock and..

_SNAP!_

Just like that she broke the arm and the reputation of Waru, all in one day. He cradled back and forth holding the arm he could not feel anymore. When the friend came to help he snapped at them.

"I can stand on my own!'' Waru screamed at him. He used his good arm and the table next to him as support. All eyes were on him, just staring. Out of sheer embarrassment, the bully ran out of the cafeteria with the lackeys following him.

Then it hit her. Any chance of seeing Serah again just got ruined.

''Lightning.''

Hope stood there with a concerned look on his face. She wanted to be a mad at him. Blame him for it. Then again, she played a part of it. Besides, Hope kind of protected her. If anything she should be mad at herself.

''Thank you.'' He said, a smile on his face, this time a genuine one.

''Don't mention it''

He watched as Lightning walked out of the cafeteria.

Outside, and again the thick grey clouds were hovering above the heavens; small droplets of rain fell down, followed by another. Before you knew it the wave of rain would hit everything in its path relentlessly. The wind was howling and strong enough to bend even the most strongest of tree's.

* * *

_Authors Note= Hope I did not keep you all waiting for long. Felt kind of sick and got myself a PS Vita and now all I have to do is wait for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD remaster of it. Never played those games before._

_Thanks again for reading, following and reviewing. I appreciate it. :)  
Next chapter coming soon!_

_All My Love,_

_The Officer and Gentleman _


	4. Chapter 4

There goes a saying for him: Another day, another step closer to the University of Academia. There Hope wants to help people, follow the footsteps of the rest of the Estheim's. Okay, maybe that's not the entire truth. It's more like what the Estheim's wanted him to do. He's not sure if what they are doing is helping at all. On one of the rare moments his parents were there he heard his father talking about casualties over a hundred thousand. "Sacrifice the few to save the many."

The weather condition was something no one ever saw before. By now everyone was worried. Hope's concern was elsewhere and that was what transpired back at the cafeteria. Yes, it felt good smashing Waru's face in but at what cost? Now he's going to look over his shoulder for the rest of his school career. Although, he might not get it as bad as the new girl. She did break his arm and embarrass him.

In order to avoid mass panic, the principal let the school out earlier. A sea of students barged out at the front door, cheering. Others were sliding down the wet hand railing. Hope wished that he could share their optimism. They were heading to their warm houses nearby with their caring mother. The Estheim residence is far from here and his parents are obviously not there. Last thing he wanted was to get sick, so there was no other choice but to wait for the rain to stop.

So, he waited..and waited.

* * *

Palampolum Downtown was in disarray to put it lightly. Rats as big as cats were scurrying on the rooftops. Thick smoke came out of the roof's chimney sweeps, polluting the air. Most of the windows either shattered, boarded up or too filthy to look into. Buildings were a combination of torned and abandoned, making it the only choice for the homeless to take shelter from the downpour. Street access was somewhat impossible because of the potholes that are the size of Grand Canyon itself. Only access was through the alleyways, which was knee deep in rain water.

Lightning stared at the scenery from high above the clock tower. Her arms outstretched, legs balancing on the bean. It was a long way down. A hoody was over her head to hide her identity as well as the emotions she beard. _'Trust on instinct, Remember Light; You are doing this for Serah.'_

She leaped of the building, a nose dive. The wind was whimpering at her ears each passing second. She grabbed on the street pole, sliding down smoothly. Just as she was about to let go, the pole broke off, sending her shoulder first on the wet concrete.

Needless, to say that Lightning was a tough girl; she stood up and kicked the downed rusty street pole. Everything here was either broken or on the verge to, a damn safety hazard. There was no possibility of ignoring that sharp pain still throbbing through her shoulder muscles. That was going to hurt for a few days.

Farron made the way towards through the narrow alleyways. Each step was a lot of effort as the water current kept trying to push her back. Some of the residence ran past her. They all had a bucket in hands trying to get rid of the water overflowing in their rooms. They were only denying the inventible. Each and passing second even more water came through. Whatever they had left was now destroyed. They had reached a new state of poverty.

_Fourth door, on the right- that's what the note said._

"**Thank you for using Palampolum tram station. Now arriving at Downtown Palampolum.''**

The holler of the afternoon train came over the announce speaker. In a flash the train came in, sending any litter on the ground flying. As the brakes hit, sparks went on the rails. iI made an ear bleeding screech sound.

The doors slided open. Inside the entire train was filled with graffiti either about gang related things or a bunch of badly spelt words. A figure wearing a hoody walked out of the train.

'_Must be the contact.'_ Lightning thought. There was only one way to be sure that it was.

She jumped out of the window, landing on the roof of a broken car. Lightning pulled out her Blazefire Saber out of the holster. The serrated edge was a few inches away from the face of the contact.

"Lightning cannot protect. Why is that?"

The figure took a deep smoke of his Cuban cigar. "Because Lightning can only destroy.''

She smiled. "One of these days smoking will kill you Amador."

"But not today." Amador chuckled and pulled his hoody down. "Now is that a way to greet the Lieutenant."

She holstered her weapon and made her way to Amador, pulling her hoody down as well. He extended his hand but Lightning went for a hug instead.

Shortly, after her parents death, Amador took her and Serah under his wing. Later he became their legal guardian. Amador became someone Lightning looked up to, a role mode and even wanting following the footsteps of him, a Guardian Gorps soldier.

Amador returned the hug. "Not out of that Lightning zap yet, Miss Farron? I heard a lot about you. How you and some other kid took the toughest and snob in Palampolum and turn him to your bitch."

She was embarrassed that he already heard about it. That was a reflection of how unprofessional she was. The only job she had been given was to scout the school and be as discreet as possible, complete opposite was done. It almost blew her cover, if it did not already.

"Lightning listen to me." He went on one knee, holding her shoulders. "I'm taking you home. You don't have to do this. I got some of the best men working on this. They will not rest until they find Serah and Snow.

She wanted to hear none of that. "No" Lightning shook her head. "I made a promise to Serah. It's one I tend to keep. My decision is made. I'm not going to stop till I find her.''

Amador did not expect anything different from her. She was Lightning Farron after all. Only 14 years old and already so dedicated and mature. There is no shred of doubt that she will make it big in the Guardian Corps one day. He knew that she will turn the entire city upside down to find her sister, which is why he recommended it in the first place, for her safety and everyone else.

"In that case." Amador pulled the hoody over his head. "Follow me."

* * *

Almost a hour. That's how long it took him to get home. Hope's feet were killing him; his hair was, wet and extended because of that, covering his face. The clothes felt heavier because of the absorption of the rain. It clung to him. What made this even worse was the fact that the elevators were under maintenance so he had to use the stairway all the way to the top of the penthouse. Suffice to say that lady luck was not on his side.

He opened the door and flicked the lights on. The Estheim's lived in high class. A thick purple rug on the entrance hallway, shiny chandelier hanging in the living room, alabaster floor that is so clear that you can see your own reflection, a smooth glass piano in the corner. Also, owners of voice operated blinders and much more.

"Mom?''

.

.

"Dad?"

.

.

Nothing. Only the sound of his voice echoeing through the penthouse. His parents were not here. Not that he expected them to be. Maybe he had a little hope that they were. That's how it always ended up for him. Agitated, Hope threw his backpack on the floor. A water puddle forming around it. _'Don't tell me that.'_

He opened his back. Just his luck. All the write and text books were damaged in the rain. Well he needs to attend to that later. Now he needs a change of clothing before he gets sick.

Hope sneezed.

Too late.

* * *

_Author's Note= Much appreciated for reading. This is going to be the last chapter for a while. Exams are about to start and I have to be ready for it. The next update will be next month when I'm done and hopefully pass. Wish me luck!_

_Also, don't forget to review. It'll only take a few seconds ;)_

_All My Love,_

_The Officer and Gentleman_


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